Clinical

FDA approves a key combination therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus, a device to help patients battle obesity, and another indication for Lucentis.

The pharmaceutical industry has learnt its lesson from the pushback that Gilead faced over the price of its hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi. The lack of a price discussion prior to the introduction of the regimen washed-out the excitement over a "cure" for the disease.

Earlier diagnosis, longer treatment duration, and increased effectiveness of cancer therapies all contributed to the constantly rising spending levels for these medicines.

Saxenda was approved in December 2014 to treat obesity, giving physicians another option for patients who are overweight and battling diabetes. Experts say payers need to take obesity as seriously as other conditions when making decisions about covering therapies.

The meta-analysis in Annals of Internal Medicine found that small doses of exercise were not enough to offset the effects of long periods of sitting on all-cause mortality and chronic disease, including diabetes.

Joslin Diabetes Center has earned the highest level of recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, which cited the center's strengths in communication, access, and coordination of care in the citation for a Patient-Centered Specialty Practice.

Several recent studies have singled out too much TV watching as being associated with a higher risk of all cause mortality and a string of health problems, from diabetes and obesity to colorectal cancer.

CMS' decision to pay primary care physicians to coordinate for seniors with multiple chronic conditions cannot soon enough, if a study in Clinical Diabetes is any sign.

The argument for cost-effectiveness has become important in the care of patients with diabetes and other comorbidities, as patients typically take multiple medications, each with its own cost-both to the payer and to the patient in the form of a co-pay-as well as some side effects.

A study published in JAMA Surgery compared long-term weight loss and other outcomes, along with adverse effects, of different surgical methods for weight loss.

A study published in in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that maintaining electronic health records for ischemic stroke patients did not improve health outcomes or care quality in the 1236 hospitals evaluated between 2007 and 2010.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study found that the length of stay was reduced by 50% following staff training in the assessment of symptoms of neonatal abstinence syndrome along with implementation of standardized intervention protocols.

The medication adherence problem is emblematic of the larger coordinated care issue in the US healthcare system, according to Trishan Panch, MBBS, MPH, chief medical officer at Wellframe.

Real-world studies of SGLT2 inhibitors show that this new class of drugs for type 2 diabetes has lowered A1C more than rivals. Patients lose more weight than with other oral therapies, and the benefit of controlling hypertension may make it possible for some patients to stop taking other drugs.

The latest Joint National Committee guidelines are based on 27 large clinical trials concerning hypertension management. These trials are often discussed in isolation, but their data have never been aggregated into a single source.

California's policies to limit what kinds of foods and beverages can be sold alongside meals regulated by the National School Lunch Program are among the strictest in the nation. The rules appear to have helped stabilize and, in some areas, reverse childhood obesity trends.

Patient access, supply chain, adherence, and comorbidities are only a few of the challenges associated with oral anticancer agents, which are included distributed by specialty pharmacies.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of April 27, 2015, including more good news for the much-anticipated PCSK9 inhibitors and growth in the individual insurance market enrollment.

The debate over including patient reported outcomes on oncology drug labels continues. The FDA expects well-defined and validated measurement tools and the patient community wants patient experiences to find their way to the label.

Co-sponsored by Republican Fred Upton and Democrat Diana DeGette, the bill, in the works for month, aims to speed the pace of drug cures by removing unnecessary barriers from the regulatory process.

Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co, which has aggressively negotiated lower costs of new hepatitis C drugs, on Wednesday said a new "focus area" will be subduing costs of a growing wave of pricey biotech cancer drugs.

A review of clinical registries determined data collection on patient outcomes are substandard and the information is not useful for patients, physicians, and policy makers, according to a paper published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Today's call for Medicare to cover the Diabetes Prevention Program is part of a broader effort by advocacy groups and the AMA to identify those with prediabetes and intervene before people develop full-blown diabetes.

The study, "Medicine Use and Spending Shifts: A Review of the Use of Medicines in the U.S. in 2014," found that total dollars spent on medications in the country rose 13.1%, up from a 3.2% increase in 2013.

Amgen might be the latest entrant in the immunotherapy realm if the FDA heeds the advice of an independent advisory panel, recommending Amgen's anticancer viral therapy, T-Vec, for melanoma treatment.

The authors conducting the research attribute the higer cost in part to more frequent adverse events and hospital-based healthcare within 30 days of their surgical procedure.

A press release by Bristol-Myers Squibb announced their filing of a supplemental Biologics License Application for Opdivo (nivolumab) in the treatment of previously untreated individuals with advanced melanoma.

The study, called the the SLIMM-T2D (Surgery or Lifestyle with Intensive Medical Management in Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes) trial, was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and observed similar improvements in blood sugar control a year after gastric band surgery or being on a group-based weight management program.

The consortium, called CANCER-ID, is a partnership between 33 organizations across 13 European nations focused on establishing the clinical utility of liquid biopsies in patients with NSCLC and HER2-resistant breast cancer.

Studies have shown that embedding behavioral health services into the primary care practice produces better health outcomes for patients with diabetes, while reducing indications of depression. The challenge is figuring out how to make the transition to new payment models that reward such care.